Putin's Ukraine Assault: In a Shambles but Far From Over

Pro-Russian rebels are in retreat, but the Kremlin will next likely turn to using economic power against Kiev.

By

Adrian Karatnycky

July 8, 2014 7:17 pm ET

Nearly three months after Russian mercenaries and Russia-backed proxies began grabbing parts of eastern Ukraine in April, Ukraine's armed forces have made important breakthroughs against the occupiers. Significantly, the forced retreat of these Russian proxies on Sunday from Slovyansk and some other insurgent-occupied cities was chaotic. Some insurgents simply dropped their weapons and have been trying to escape to Russia or the Crimea region of Ukraine, which remains firmly in Russian hands. Others have merely fallen back and redeployed in rebel-held Donetsk and Luhansk, provincial capitals in Ukraine's eastern Donbas...